I used to own the Ayre K-5xeMP and it's still the best preamp I've ever owned. I sold it in the interest of trying something different.

With that said, has anyone compared the K-5xeMP with the Pass Labs XP-10 or the Arcam C49? I know the latter isn't perceived to be in the same class as Ayre and Pass Labs, but I'm curious to hear any impressions. It has hardly any press (no reviews that I've seen).

@OP, I am using the K5xeMP now and I agree, it is a sweet preamp, and also the best preamp I've used up to this point. So why don't you either buy another one, or if upgrading, buy the KX5-20 or the KXR-20, depending on budget.

@nitewulf That's actually what I'm leaning towards now. I wanted to try something different just for kicks, but the Ayre was so good that I can't quite get its sound out of my head. I'm temporarily using a Parasound P5 and it's a radical difference. It's lacking in depth and is much more forward. Treble definition and timbre isn't as good and sounds dry in comparison to the K-5xeMP. It's funny because the Parasound is quite good for its price point, but the Ayre was on a different level.

@wasquatch, I think the most comparable Parasound would be the Halo JC2 linestage. Which was on my shortlist when shopping. But honestly I am so impressed with the Ayre sound that I think I will stick with Ayre amplification gear for the future.

One of my setups uses a JC 2 BP and JC 1 monoblocks to drive KEF Reference 107/2s, another uses an Ayre K-5exMP and VX-5 Twenty KEF to drive KEF LS50s. Though the speakers are obviously very different, my general observation is that the Ayre based setup sounds a bit warmer, whatever the acoustic correlates of warmer are. Someday, I expect to try the Ayre stuff with the big KEFs, and hope to have replaced my K-5xeMP with a KX-5 Twenty to match the amp.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I did indeed just end up nabbing another K-5xeMP off the listings here and have been happily listening to it for the past several days. I decided to not roll the dice with a preamp I had not heard in my system and go with what had made me happy in the past. Funny how the compulsion to upgrade in this hobby sometimes leads you back to where you started.